Collision Course
by HelenL
Summary: This one is as complete as it's going to get for awhile, unless anyone's got any suggestions?


**A/N: **Megan made me do it! She and I both wrote this, then she decided mine was better. So I have no choice but to post it. Heh- I have ulteriormotives though, as I have a message for my dear friend Emily...  
**Em:** Okay, I really need you to email What looks like a space is actually an underscore ( ). Heh- we learned something last night, and I recommended you. :grins: Just email her if you read this fic, okay?  
**Disclaimer:** Although an alien has officially invaded my head- not that I mind- I have still been ordered to alert you that it wasn't my head that created any of this. Although, my alien would argue that I could have done (but she's biased...). Anyways, my alien and I will put them back, without too much damage. Well, except that Abby may prefer the fantasy world- but I don't know on that one.

* * *

Abby sat in her computer chair, jiggling her foot and bobbing her head in time to her music. She was incredibly bored. Everyone else had been sent off to who-knew-where without her- again. Not that she was complaining; they had their jobs and she had hers. It was just that sometimes it got old… Sometimes it seemed as though all she did was sit in her lab- day in and day out- while the others dashed off to this crime scene or that naval base.

On the plus side, it gave her time to think. More often than not, she had a brilliant burst of insight during lulls such as these. Well, maybe brilliant was a bit of a stretch. It was usually more of an obscure theory or- when she was really bored- a surplus of testing equipment. In any case, Gibbs attributed over half of their biggest cases to her and her boredom.

That alone was enough to make her want to keep her job. After all, how many people could get bored and have fun at work then be credited with _all_ the work?

Amazingly though, Abby wasn't doing anything even remotely work-related. She was listening to music and playing solitaire.

Something tugged on her right pigtail and she jumped out of her chair, ramming her elbow back wards.

"Ah, shit Abbs- that really hurt."

Abby turned around. "Gibbs? Oh God… I'm so sorry, it's just that I didn't know you were here and I wasn't expecting you guys back for awhile, so- Hey, alert me that you're here before you just pull my hair like that!"

"Well, that's the thing. I've been calling your name since before this song started."

"You have? I didn't hear you." She shrugged, still staring at him.

He chuckled. "Well, no, you wouldn't, would you? Not with your music so loud." He reached over her shoulder and turned down the music. "Wow Abbs- my ears are ringing, even though the music's still on."

"Yeah, well, like I said before, I wasn't expecting you guys back for another day or so," she told him sheepishly. "Besides, it can't have been _that_ loud."

"Why not?"

She bit her lip and grinned. "Well, you can still hear me, can't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled her award winning smile at him. "Abby," he chastised with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry?" She gave him a half-grin combined with a half-pout.

"You know, you should be in trouble right now."

"Yeah, but I'm not." She looked panicked for a moment. "I'm not, am I?"

"We-ell…"

"I'm sorry Gibbs, I swear it won't happen again. If it helps, I'll take home all my CDs and delete all my play lists-"

"Abbs, you don't have to do that. I was teasing."

"- and I'll block all of my music websites, and I'll take out my stereo system, and I won't bring in my headphones anymore, and I won't use the ones that are here, and I-"

"Abby, it's okay."

"What?" She stopped babbling and looked at him.

"Abbs, you can still listen to your music."

She grinned at him. "I can? Cool. Does that mean I win?"

"Yes, it does. Contrary to popular belief, I'm really not a tyrant."

Abby raised her eyebrows. "Really? That's not what I've heard- _especially_ recently."

"Well, with your music being that loud, you probably misheard."

"Funny, but for some reason, I really don't think that I did Gibbs."

He gave her a long, hard look before sitting down in an empty chair. "Do they really think I'm a tyrant?"

Abby was taken aback by the abrupt change in her boss's demeanor. She stared at him. "Who cares what they think?"

"I care Abbs- more than anyone will probably ever know."

This wasn't the Gibbs that Abby was used to. He was being unusually open and setting himself up to be vulnerable. "Gibbs, the only person who's ever called you a tyrant was McGee, and he's gone now."

"McGee called me a tyrant? Well, there's another good reason for me to have fired his ass."

"Gi-ibbs," she warned with a look.

"Sorry Abbs, I keep forgetting that you were seeing him." His expression showed that he really wasn't sorry and anyone but Abby- who was oblivious either by choice or by nature- would have seen the jealousy. "So what about Kate and DiNozzo? Do they think I'm a tyrant too?"

"Gibbs, are you sure you- Oh, once again, who cares what they think? Tony's happy as long as he's sleeping with at least one girl and Kate- Well, she's as bad as you. Work is her life and then some. So she really doesn't care who's in charge, as long as she keeps her job."

"Okay, then how have they implied that I'm a tyrant?"

"Well, it's actually not even you. See, it's more of the fact that some of the rules are a bit stupid, and you tend to make them follow them." She caught his eye again and cut him off as he made an attempt to insert the invariable comment. "I know it's just because you want them to stay around long enough to get away with as much as you do. But it's not like you tell us these things Gibbs!" She looked at him and shook her head. "Honestly, sometimes you're just so hard to read. And the only reason I know any of this stuff is because I've been around here for over 5 years now. But you're still a damn mystery."

Gibbs chuckled. "That's funny Abbs, because I've always thought you could see right through me."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, you obviously thought wrong. You're still one of the only mysteries that I have yet to solve." She paused. "This is an awkward conversation, isn't it?"

"I guess it could be."

"What do you mean it could be? We never talk like this Gibbs. And now I can't even remember why you're down here. I _always_ know why _everyone_ is down here."

"I don't know that you ever asked why I was down here."

"Okay, fine then, I'm asking you now." She fixed him with a pointed stare, sure that he had probably just come down because he was bored.

He pulled an evidence bag out of his jacket pocket. "Run this for me, okay? It's really important. I'll be upstairs when you're done."

She took it from him. "Uh, sure thing Boss-man." Abby was still wondering how Gibbs could switch topics so easily. It was probably another barrier he put up so that no one would know anything about him. "Where are Kate and Tony?"

"I left them at the hotel in Atlanta."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Gibbs, what the hell were you thinking? You actually left _them_ there on their own?"

Gibbs smiled at her but said nothing. _God, she's so sexy when she's ticked off at me._

She frowned. "Who's ticked off at you?"

"Abby, what are you talking about?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, you just said, 'God, she's so sexy when she's ticked off at me.' So who's ticked off at you?"

"I- I didn't say anything Abbs. Are you okay?" He looked at her carefully, then reached over and put his hand on her forehead.

She shook his hand off. "I'm fine, why?"

"I already told you, I didn't say a word. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," she told him firmly. "I just want to know who's ticked off at you and why."

"Well, actually, right now you're the only one who seems to be ticked off at me."

She shrugged. "You have a point, but I'm not sexy."

Gibbs begged to differ on that one, not that he would ever tell her that. "Whether you are or not isn't the issue. Where did that come from?"

"You're the one who said it, not me!"

"What did I say?"

"Honestly Gibbs, sometimes I think you just do this to drive me up the wall. You said, 'God, she's so sexy when she's ticked off at me.' So who's ticked off and sexy?"

Gibbs thought back. Had he accidentally said what he had been thinking? That had to be it. "You," he answered with a teasing grin.

Wow, Gibbs was sometimes playful, but never _this_ playful. _Teasing bastard…_ "Thanks, but I've heard that pick up line before." She yawned. "Next please."

"Bastard? That was unusually cold for you Abbs."

"I never said anything about bastards. Why?"

"You just said that I was a-"

"Oh, so now who's hearing voices?" She grinned. "Are you feeling okay Jethro? Do you need to go and see Ducky?" She grinned, an odd gleam in her eye.

He raised an eyebrow. "Jethro?"

She bit her lip. "Sorry, but you teased me, and so… Come on, I had to get back at you somehow."

"Okay, can we call it a truce now?"

_Is he actually going to let me get away with this?_ "Sure, truce."

_Wow, I'm actually going to let her get away with this?_ "Now, can you get to work on that for me?" He indicated the plastic evidence bag on her counter.

"Yeah, sure."

Gibbs watched as Abby spun her chair around and lost herself in her work. He stood there for at least ten minutes, just watching her. The way her small, delicate hands gently worked with her equipment; the way she kept shaking her pigtails out of her face; even the way her lab coat clung more to certain parts of her body. He grinned. She was, to put it simply, amazing. _Yeah, and she's sexy too…_

"I heard that!" she called over her shoulder.

_Okay, this time I know I didn't say anything._

"Yes you did," she argued, turning to him.

"Abby, I haven't said a word; I've just been standing here, thinking."

"Okay then, what were you _thinking_?"

He shrugged. "You tell me then, since you obviously heard whatever it was."

"I didn't hear what you were thinking, I heard what you said." She gave him a look. Then, as if to prove that she knew she wasn't crazy, she repeated what she had heard. "You said, 'Yeah, and she's sexy too.' Don't deny it again."

"Abby, I swear to you, I didn't say anything, but I-"

She frowned and got out of her chair, standing in front of him. "But you what? But you could have?"

"Never mind Abbs, you'd never believe it."

She raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "You think you could say something so crazy that I wouldn't believe it?"

He looked down at her. "I'm sure I could."

"Go ahead then, impress me with your literary wonders." She grinned.

"Fine, but if you laugh at me, I'll never tell you another thing."

She shrugged. "I won't laugh at you."

"Okay, I never said any of those things. I thought them."

"You thought them?" she repeated, her face scrunching up as she thought. "Cool! You know, when I was really little, I always wanted to switch minds with people." She chuckled. "I guess I really wanted to be me in someone else's body. After all, if you switched with them, then they'd switch with you. So somehow I came up with this way that you would never know it if you had, because you would have both switched and- Anyways, I was talking to Kate about it once and we ended up deciding that you can only ever switch with your significant other so I guess it really doesn't matter, does it?"

"So the fact that you could potentially be reading my mind doesn't seem the least bit weird to you?"

"Are you kidding? It's kind of cool. Except now I'm curious." She grinned at him conspiratorially. "Who were you thinking about? After all, we were the only ones in the room. So what did I do or say to lead you off on a rabbit trail about someone sexy?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Uh, no I'm really not. Should I be?"

"Okay, there's you and me in here, no one else. Who do you think I'm thinking about?"

"Well, normally I'd say you were thinking about whatever I'm saying, but that's not a who, it's a what. So I give up- who?"

"You-" He brushed the end of her nose with his finger. "-are a scientist and are quite capable of figuring it out on your own." He turned to leave.

"I'm drawing a blank Gibbs, so I'm obviously not smart enough." She ran out of the lab after him. She was running so fast that she couldn't stop herself. She ended up knocking herself and Gibbs to the floor. "Well," she grinned. "You can't escape me now. So tell me- who is she?"

He looked up at her, still vaguely surprised that Abby had actually been able to knock him over. "Do you really want to know?"

She gave him a look that said, quite plainly, she wasn't moving until she knew. "No, I'm just looking for an excuse to stay on top of you." Her voice was absolutely dripping with sarcasm.

He shrugged. "Eventually you'll get bored and want to move. When you are, I'm going to hold you to this, you know."

"Fine, you do that." She rested her elbows on his chest, purposefully digging them in a little harder than was really necessary.

His eyes dropped to where her elbows seemed to be resting innocently. "That's going to get really annoying in a minute."

She smiled sweetly. "I can move them as soon as you tell me."

"Actually, you can move them whenever the hell you want to."

"Yeah, but that won't be until you tell me."

"You honestly don't know?"

"Gibbs, I swear I don't know. I haven't known a thing about your love life since your third wife left you."

"That's because I haven't had one since then."

"You must have if you think someone's sexy."

He let out a hollow chuckle. "It's rather one-sided."

"In other words, you haven't told her."

"How do you know I haven't?" He held her gaze.

"Please, she'd be crazy to turn you- To turn down a government employee."

"Oh she would, would she?" He grinned. "Fine, if you really want to know, it was the girl I was watching."

"Gibbs, that's not a real answer, it doesn't tell me-" Something clicked in her eyes and she gasped. "Oh."

"So you get it. Now that I've officially embarrassed myself, can you get off?"

She shook her head stubbornly, though she did move her elbows.

"Come on Abby, you know now. Get off." He tried to roll her off.

She pushed him back down and put her face in front of his, her pigtails dangling next his ears. "Maybe I don't want to get off." She leaned closer to him, her lips so close to his that they were touching. "Maybe I'm quite happy where I am."

He put an arm around her neck and pulled her lips the last bit down to his.

Time faded away to nothing. Neither of them was aware of anything other than what the other was doing. The fact that they were on the floor never occurred to them. For that matter, it didn't even register that they were supposed to be working or that they were still in the office. They both had enough vacation time to take at least one day off, but they were completely oblivious to that fact.

The elevator door dinged, bringing Abby back to her senses, though Gibbs was completely oblivious. She disentangled herself from his arms and rolled off of him, wiping her mouth in the process. She turned to the elevator as Gibbs struggled to pull himself together. She almost grinned at the thought.

"Abby, I'm surprised at you," chastised Ducky from the open elevator.

"Ducky, it's not what you think. Gibbs and I were just- I was-"

The elevator doors started to shut. "It's not that my Dear, it's simply that I never thought that you would want to be on top."

The doors shut as Abby's jaw dropped. She stood and ran to the doors. "Ducky! I can't believe you just said that." She pounded her fists on the door. "Open this elevator up now! I know you're right there listening to me. You always do this to me Duck-man. You say stuff, then run and hide where you can still get my reaction- only from a safe distance."

Gibbs came up behind her. "Abby, who cares?" He took her hand. She looked at him curiously. He jerked his head towards the stairs, indicating that they were leaving.

"Dr. Mallard, Ms. Sciuto and I are taking the rest of the day off due to personal reasons. If anyone needs us, we're currently unavailable- they can leave us messages on our cell phones." He paused. "And no one is to call the land line, unless it's really an emergency."

"And what if someone dies Jethro?" Ducky couldn't even begin to hide his amusement.

"Well, I don't think that the body's going to go anywhere, do you?"

They could hear Ducky chuckling as he started the elevator back up. "Oh, go on then you two. I'll cover for you- but you owe me one Jethro."

Gibbs and Abby looked at each other, grinning. They dashed for the stairs and Gibbs drove Abby to his house.

The next day, they arrived late and wearing equally thrilled grins. Kate and Tony tried all day to find out why they were so happy, but to no avail. Ducky was grinning too, as he knew exactly what was going on. Kate put two and two together later in the evening, but- luckily- Tony was in the dark until Gibbs finally told him. As for Abby, well, she had to deal with incessant phone calls from her best friend. She finally used the excuse that her phone was hiding under her boyfriend's pants.

Kate hasn't bugged her since then- though it's only been a week. In short, things have continued normally, even though Gibbs and Abby are sleeping together.

And as for Gibbs boat? Well, it hasn't progressed very much, though Gibbs has finally decided on a name. Abby finally got 'introduced' to his baby, and she may paint it over the weekend, though it must be said that she may not be able to 'find time'.

* * *

**Kate and Abby: **Okay, this fic is dedicated to both of you. Kate because I used your Switching Minds Theory, and Abby becausethings haven't been going so well. We're a mess, eh? Anyways, I hope this helps. Oh, by the way Kate, thanks again for not making me have to worry! 


End file.
